Professional Profile

Ericka concentrates her practice in litigation including general and complex commercial cases, labor and employment cases, class actions and matters involving disputes with franchised dealers in the automotive industry. She serves both as a trial lawyer and as a counselor to clients on preventive strategies to avoid litigation. In her labor and employment practice, she has extensive experience litigating on behalf of business entities on a wide range of employment-related matters including ADA, FMLA, Title VII, retaliatory discharge, wage and hour issues and age discrimination. In her commercial litigation practice, Ericka handles matters involving contract disputes, business torts and unfair business practices. Additionally, she advises clients on various states' vehicle codes, terminations, buy/sells, and compliance requirements. Her experience encompasses all aspects of litigation including motion practice, oral and written expert and non-expert discovery, trial practice, appellate practice, as well as settlement negotiations and alternative dispute resolution. Ericka has successfully handled dispositive motions in employment law and other matters, recently including:

• Obtaining summary judgment on claims of FMLA interference and retaliation on behalf of an automobile manufacturer against a former employee in the District Court for the Southern District of Indiana. This judgment was affirmed by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals;
• Obtaining summary judgment on behalf of an automobile manufacturer against an employee alleging race discrimination and retaliation claims under Title VII and § 1981 in the District Court for the Northern District of Illinois;
• Successfully compelling FINRA arbitration in the District Court for the Southern District of Illinois on behalf of a national brokerage firm against a former employee-broker alleging various claims of tortious interference arising after the employment relationship ended;
• Representing a world-wide retailer in defending wage and hour class actions pending in multiple states;

Ericka has a broad litigation practice and has represented clients before state and federal administrative agencies and in state and federal courts throughout the United States. Although admitted to practice in both Missouri and Illinois state and federal courts, Ericka practices pro hac vice in various other state courts and federal districts.

Education

• Southern Illinois University (J.D., 2001)
  • Articles Editor, Southern Illinois University Law Journal
  • Order of Barristers
• Southern Illinois University (BA., 1996)

Admissions & Qualifications

• Missouri, 2003
• Illinois, 2001
• U.S. District Court, Western District of Missouri
• U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Missouri
• U.S. District Court, District of Kansas
• U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois
• U.S. District Court, Southern District of Illinois
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit

Professional Memberships

• Missouri Bar Association
• Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association
• Defense Research Institute
• Illinois State Bar Association

Clerk Experience

• Clerk for U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern Illinois (2000)